Pet Gaming Tips: "Perfect" in Gobbler Drop

Put on your hard hats and tennis shoes, it's time to turn your pet into a perfect "Gobbler."  Helping me today is my Test Realm newborn, Lady Pebbles, the Defender Pig.

Gobbler Drop seems to be underrated by many reviews, whether it's because of the level of difficulty or length of time in comparison to--I sadly have to say--Dance Game.  But, hopefully after reading this, you'll find yourself scoring longer streaks of Perfect games.  Once you have truly mastered it, you'll no longer have to rely on feeding your pet to rapidly and efficiently raise Strength.

Note:  With four minigames to choose from, each game favors either one of these stats:  STR, INT, AGI, WILL.  If the game provides a potential +4 to a single stat as a reward, then you know which attribute is dominant there.

Instructions:

SHADOWS

If you haven't figured it out by now, start making Shadow Hunting a habit.  Instead of putting all your focus at the sky, evaluate the grass and shadows on the ground.  ALL shadows are circular; the only way to tell the difference between what the items are is to quickly scan the area above the pet.  

Use these spots to help you plan out your path.  You can stand under one shadow of a desired item and, while waiting to collect it, look for the next spot to run to.

JUMPING

 

Bah, what laziness or carelessness on the Company's part!  From the description below "CONTROLS," many of us are led to believe that Gobbler Drop functions on a two-dimensional platform: forward, backward, and to the sides.  However, this minigame is actually incorporated into a 3D setting; there is height involved, hence the use of the Spacebar!

How does this help?  With jumping, you can Catch food before they reach your pet's head, meaning you can leap and pick a Fish from the air and land in the shadow of a falling Pizza to score on both!  You can do this by using your directional keys while you are in midair.

Not everything presented on the screen will be exactly how it registers on the server.  For example, you may jump, touch the food, and it doesn't disappear or give you credit right away.  No problem, just try it again!  It seems like there is occasionally a small delay irregularity, but you can also use this to your advantage.  If the situation at present shows you a Drumstick that's about to hit the ground, just run over its shadow anyway; by some luck, that delay irregularity will register you collecting it, even after it's gone!

SANDS or HANDS
OF TIME

The "bonus items" that the instructions are referring to are the Hourglasses and Clocks that are occasionally thrown by the Gobblers.  Both objects affect the Timer at the upper right corner, but are different in effect.

Hourglass - This is your BEST FRIEND in this minigame.  As depicted above, Lady Pebbles chose the Sands of Time over the Hands of Time.  The Hourglass has four (4) effects:  

• Pauses the timer for quite a length of time
• Slows the speed of objects dropping
• Maximizes your pet's speed
• It counts towards Collected Food

There is a special, "fifth" effect, but it is based on the situation.  Let's say you get hit by an anvil or bomb and become burdened with the Slow Penalty, which reduces your pet's speed.  The duration of the penalty can somewhat turn the tide of your success, but luckily there is a quick solution:  Hourglass!  The four effects listed above will override your penalty.  And what happens if you get hit by another anvil or bomb again, after collecting an Hourglass?  Well, you lose the third effect of max speed, but the Timer is still paused, and falling objects are still slowly trickling down.


SPECIAL TIP on Hourglass:  When there are two or more Hourglasses on the screen at the same time (but have different heights), don't try to catch both of them right away in hopes that they will stack the Pause Timer duration; unlike the Hands of Time, the Hourglass will only reset its duration when collected.  Normally, after collecting one Hourglass, I run around collecting some food (1-3) before rushing over to the shadow of the other Hourglass.




Clocks - On the other end of the spectrum, Clocks are a little trickier to utilize.  Look at the two screenshots below, and pay close attention to the Timer and Food meter:

As shown, Clocks:

• Add back to the remaining seconds on the Timer, roughly about 6-7
• Penalize you by decreasing your Food Collected meter by one object.

Thus, do NOT chain Clocks too often; while the lengthened time allows you to run around longer, it defeats the purpose of efficiently training your pet.  Remember, you'll want to earn that +4 experience right away, feed your pet, and start on another minigame as soon as possible.



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I hope this helps one way or another.  Please feel free to ask any questions or comment below!

Lady Pebbles:  "Yes, yes I am."